Air-cooling apparatus



C. KUPREL Se'pt. 8, 1925.

AIR COOLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 n ELE Filed 0G12. 14 1921 lll lllllll 1.1; 1| lllllll sept. s, 1925. 1,553,247

c. KUPREI.

AIR COOLING APPARATUS Filed 0st,. 14, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

UNITED STATES coNsTANTiNn Korn-EL, on WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS.

AIn-cooLINe APPARATUS.

Application filed October 14, 1921. Serial No. 507,679.

To c/.ZZ whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CONSTANTTNE KUPREL, a citizen of the United States,'residing at Tichita Falls, in the county of TvVichita and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Cooling Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use` the same.

` This invention relates to air cooling apparatus, and more particularly 'to apparatus for use in cooling the air in dining rooms, ofhces and other rooms of a private resi- -dence or building used for business purposes.

The objects ofthe invention are to provide a simple, efficient and inexpensive ap paratus of the character referred to having very much the appearance of a piece of household or oflice furniture, for cooling the air in the room in which it is used, and having means associated therewith for cooling water for drinking purposes; the several parts of the apparatus being so constructed and arranged as to adapt them to be readily taken apart to facilitate cleaning or repairs or to renew a worn or broken part.

VThe invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as a part of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In said drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation an apparatus embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of the same g Fig. 3 is a top pla-n view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 't-4 of Fig. 2, looking downwardly;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, ofV the spiral conveyor detached andpartly broken away; andLv A Fig. v6 is' a detail sectional view of the discharge end of the fan casing,

Referring to said drawings, in which the same reference letters are used to denote corresponding'parts in diferent views, the letter'vA denotes a casing containing an ice tank B, and having mounted thereon a fan case' Within which 'an electric or other motor M is i nrted in positionto drive a fan F 1 adapted to draw air through the apparatus and force it out at the top. As shown, the casing A V comprises two cylindrical members TAY-'A2 placed one within the other and having closed bottoms and slightly separated to receive between the sides and bottoms thereof a packing or lill ing of noirconducting material, as shown in Fig. 2.v llVithin the casing A is placed a cylindrical partition a spaced therefrom so as to provide an annular water chamber vbetweensaid partiti-on and the inner wall A2 of the casing the said chamber surrounding the ice tank or container B; said partition being spaced from said ice tank sufficiently to providev a restricted air space between it and the ice tank within which is placed a winding or spiral conveyor C, along or through which air passes upwardly v'in a gradually ascending course around and in contact with the cooling surface of said icc tank and out at the top'of said restricted air space. The conveyor C is supported by rods c which pass vertically through holes in the edges of the spiral conveyor. Thepartition a terminates above the bottoni of the casing and has attached thereto an annular plate a2, the outer Yedge of which is secured to the inner wall ofthe casing; said plate a? forming the lbottom of said annular. water chamber', and saidk bottom being raised above the bottom of the tank so as" to provide an air space surrounding the bottom of the ice tank and in communication with said restricted air space. Nithin the annular water chamber are placed aseries of pipes or tubes E, which are preferably of inverted U-shaped form having the inlet ends e thereof inserted through holes in the walls of the casing and ,the outlet ends el thereof in'sertedthrough holes in the bottom of the said waterv chamber for the passage of air therethrough upwardly and downwardly through the. water fin said chamber, and thence upwardly through the channel formed by the spiral conveyor around the ice tank or container and in contact therewith to the top of the ice tank and water chamber and out through the discharge port of the suction fan, The inlet. and outlet ends of said air pipes or tubes are fitted with water tight ,Connections of ordinary construction' @heling case F is ,constructed to conform ,tot the'shape of the @Sins A? 9,11 which ils Teenie@ Wah .its

bottom resting on said casing and forming a cover therefor, and to this end the bottom of the fan case has a central opening thexein arranged over the ice tank and the surrounding air space and the bottom plate of said fan case rests upon the upper ends of the casing llt and the partition fl, and is provided with depending annular flanges f adapted to fit between the upper ends of the casing A and the partition a so as to adapt said flanges to serve as a means for holding said bottom-plate securely in place. The motor M may be conveniently supported on a bracket depending from the underside of the top of the fan casing and in electric connection with a suitable `source of power, through a switch S of any suitable construction placed on the top of the fan casing to adapt the current to be turned on or olf at will for stopping or starting the motor. It will be understood, of course, that any suitable motor may be employed for imparting rotary movement to the fan, which is preferably mounted on the motor shaft. As shown, the fan casing has an inverted water bottle W mounted thereon, with its mouth arranged over and adapted to discharge into coiled pipe or tube w, through which the water passes to a discharge valve or spigot f3 on the outer side of the fan case, for supplying ice-cooled drinking water when desired. The fan case is provided with a partition fx which is preferably inclined, so as 'to provide an air chamber at one side or in front thereof in which the fan is enclosed and an ice chamber on the other side, in which ice may be placed for cooling 'the water in its passage from the inverted bottle through the coiled pipe w to the spigot f3. The inlet end of the coiled pipe w has a nipple thereon which is screwed into an aperture in the top of the ice chamber, over which is secured an annular neck-like support for the inverted bottle. A filling opening is provided in the top of said ice chainber having a detachable cover f2. The water chamber may be filled by removing the fan case with its ice chamber, but preferably means are provided for causing` a circulation of Water through the water chamber, if desired, and to this end an inlet pipe with a valve I is provided at the top of the casing leading into the annular water chamber, for connection with any suitable source of supply, and an overflow pipe L, on the opposite side of the casing, having a valve'Z therein controlling said overflow pipe which is connected at. its lower end with a drain pipe having a valve K therein controlling the discharge of liquid from the lower end of the water chamber. The overiow and drain pipe having the valve K may each discharge into a common outlet through a coupling member 7c at the bottom of the. casing. By disconnecting this coupling or providing separate connections the bottom valve K may be used as an inlet for running water when it is not in use for the purpose through the apparatus is regulated by the speed of the fan and the adjustment of the shutters H, at the discharge end or side of the fan case, in which there is a circular opening encircled by an inwardly turned flange or plate 7L on the fan case having formed therein a series of apertures k1, (Fig. G) preferably of rectangular form, as shown in Fig. l, which are adapted to register with correspondingly shaped openings 7b4 in the adjustable shutters as clearly shown in Fig. 6. As shown in Figs. l, 2 and 6, the shutters consist of segmental plates pivotally secured together at their inner ends so as to permit rotary movement about a common axis as at h2 each shutter having a marginal outwardly turned portion constructed on the arc of a circle in which openings h4 are formed'registering with the apertures tl in the adjacent inwardly turned-flange or end plate of the fan case, from which point the segments extend inwardly toward the axis of the fan, where the several segments are secured together by a fastening bolt ft2, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6 of the drawings, thus forminOp acone-lile structure against the conical surface of which the air is driven by the fan and forced out of the registering apertures surrounding the cone. The segments may be adjusted independently and secured in different positions by means of the fastening bolt 7L? so as to vary the size of the discharge ports at will, thus regulating the passage of air through the apparatus.

The fan case, as before stated, serves as a cover for the casino' A and is in effect an upward extension or continuation of said casing and it is mace removable and may be used independently of the air cooling device, or in other words, the air cooling device may be used with or without the water cooling device.V In the latter case, the coil within the ice chamber and the inverted bottle may be dispensed with, and the spigot or valve f3 may serve merely for draining purposes. For draining water resulting from melted ice in the ice chamber of the fan case when the water cooling device is used for cooling drinking water, Ya separate valve or spigot f4 Figs. l; and 3) is provided at the bottom of the ice chamber within the fan casing. Ice being placed in the ice chamber and resting upon the surface of the preferably metallic partition which separates the ice chamber trom the air chamber in which the fan is placed,` ada-pts the water cooling device to serve as an additional air cooling device, by contact of the air with said partition', thereby further reducing the temperature of the air discharged by the fan.

It will be understood oit course that the apparatus can be constructed in various` sizes, according to'- the desires of the manufacturer or user, or the requirements inl any particular case, and various changes may be made in the details and. arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope ot my i-nvention.- Ordinarily the casing should not measure less tha-niifteen inches in diameter and forty inches in height.

In order tov make the connection between the spiral conveyor'and the ice tank and between said conveyor and the casing as nearly air tight as possible, the edges of the spiral plate C may be fitted with rubber strips c1 clamped between the edges of the `plate and underlying cleats or clamping devices c2, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5

the drawings.V

In operation, air is drawn by the suction iorce of an electric fan or equivalent device, rst through the inverted U-shaped tubes surrounded by water forv initial cooling, then upwardly between successive turns of the spiral conveyor varound and in' contact with the cooling surface of the ice' container, for final cooling, and out'at the'v top, where it is discharged at a temperature controlled largely by the speed of the .tan andthe ad justment of the shutters.

Having. thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1.An aii1 cooling Aapparatus comprising a receptacle having inner and outer mernbers spa-ced apart to form an annular waterspace, an ice container with-in said receptacle separa-ted -from the inner wall of said water space so as to leave an air space between the ice container and the water space, air circulating pipes within said water space in communication with the lower part of said air space,fa spiral conveyor in said air space surrounding said ice container, and a suction fan mounted on said receptacle for drawing air through said air pipes and con veyor and discharging it therefrom.

2. An air cooling apparatus comprising a cylindrical receptacle having inner and outer members spaced apart to form an annular water space, air circulating pipes of inverted U-shaped form within said water space, a cylindrical ice container within said receptacle and selparated from the inner wall of said water space so as to provide an air space surrounding said ice container, means :tor conducting air upwardly in a gradually ascending curve around `said con;

tainer, and a rotary ian for drawing air throughf saidl air pipes and conducting` means and discharging it at the top of said receptacle,

3. An air cooling apparatus comprising a receptacle having inner and outer members spaced apart to form anl annular water space,

air circulating pipes of inverted U-shaped form. within said water space having their inlet ends inserted through the outer wall of said receptacle near its bottom and their outlet ends inserted through the bottom oi said water space, an ice container within said receptacle separated from said inner member so as to provide an air space surroundi-n-g said container, means for directing a current of air' upwardly in a gradually ascending curve around said container, and means for drawing air through said air pipes and directing means and discharging it at the top ci said receptacle.

4:.y Anair cooling apparatus comprising a cylindrical casing enclosing a cylindrical ice tank substantially concentric therewith and a cylindrical partition betweenthe ice tank the; wall of the casing soas to leave an annular air space between the ice tank and t-he partition and a water chamber between the wall of the casing and the partition, a spiral air conveyor secured in said air space, air circulating pi-pes within said water chamber having'inlet ends inserted in openings through. the wall ot' said casing and outlet ends inserted in openings in the bottom of Said water chamber and coni'- vmunicating with the air space containing said spiral conveyor, a fan case mou-nted on said casing., a motor in said ian' case and a rotary ian driven by said motor adapted to draw air through said air pipes and spira-l conveyor and deliver it at one side or end of the fan casing.v Y Y An air cooling apparat-usi comprising a casing having an annular water chamber therein surrounding an ice tank and spaced therefrom so as to provide a vertically disposed air space between said tank and said water chamber; the' bottomI of said water chamber being elevated above the bottom proper of the casing so as to provide an air space below said water chamber and surrounding the lower end of the ice tank, a spiral air conveyor in said air space between the casing and tank, substantially U-shaped air circulating pipes within said water chamber each having the end of one limb inserted in an inlet opening in the wall of said casing and the end of the other limb inserted in an outlet opening through the bottom of said water chamber and leading to the air space containing said spiral conveyor, a fan case mounted on said casing f having an opening in its bottom arranged over said icetank and surrounding air space, and a rotary fan 1n said casing adapted to draw'Y air through said air pipes and spiral conveyor and torce it through a discharge port at o-ne side or end of the fan casing.

6. An air cooling apparatus comprising a casing having an annular water chamber therein surrounding an ice tank and spaced therefrom so as to provide a vertically disposed air space between said tank and said water chamber; the bottom of said water chamber being elevated above the bottom of the casing so as to provide an air space surrounding the bottom of the ice tank, a spiral air conveyor removably litted in said vertically disposed air space, a series of pipes extending longitudinally or" said waterl chamber having inlet ends fitted in openings through the wall ot said casing at the lower end thereof and outlet ends itted in openings in the bottom ot said water chamber and communicating with the air space at the lower end of said spiral conveyor, a tan case mounted on said casing having an ice chamber and an air chamber therein, and a rotary tan in said air chamber adapted to draw air through said air pipes and spiral conveyor alnd torce it through a discharge port at one side or end or the tan casing.

7. An air cooling apparatus comprising a casing having a water chamber therein surrounding a vertical air space and means for introducing and discharging water from said chamber, an ice container within said air space resting on the bottom of said casing and spaced from the inner wall of said water chamber so as to provide a vertical air passage surrounding the container; said chamber having an open top and having its bottom raised above the bottom of the casing so as to provide a subjacent air space surrounding the lower part of the ice container and opening into said vertical air passage, air circulating pipes extending through said water chamber and having their inlet ends inserted through the wall yof the casing and their outlet ends leading into said subjacent air space, and a fan case having a central opening in its bottom arpassage, a spiral conveyor in said passage,

in contact with said container and said water chamber and the cooled air discharged through said tan case.

8. An air cooling apparatus comprising a casing having a water chamber thereiln surrounding a vertical air space and means for introducing and discharging water from said chamber, an ice container within said air space resting on the bottom of said casilng and spaced from the inner wall of said water chamber so as to provide a vertical air passage surrounding the container; said chamber having an open top and having its bottom raised above the bottom of the., casing so as to provide a subjacent air space surrounding the lower part ot the ice container and opening into said vertical air air circulating pipes extending upwar ly and downwardly through said water chamber and having their inlet ends inserted through the wall of the casing and their outlet ends leading into said subjacent air space, and a fan case having a central opening in its bottom arranged over said ice container and a surrounding Vbottom-plate forming a removable cover for the open top of said water chamber; said fan case having an ice chamber therein and a separate compartment containing a suction tan and means for discharging air therefrom, whereby air is drawn into and through said pipes and caused to ascend in a serpentine course through said air passage in cont-act with said container and said water chamber and the cooled air discharged through Said fan case. Y

In testimony whereof I atIiX my signature.

CONSTANTINE KUPREL. 

